Chapter 25. Battle Begins
Eight minutes after the operations meeting ended, at the Control Tower of the First District.
Reinhild arrived in front of the Control Tower in the First District while Crush's speech was already halfway through. Looking at the magnificent building before her, Reinhild paused, gently touched the Dragon Sword at her waist a few times, and recalling the recent events, her expression grew serious.
[Divine Protection of the Actor]
Reinhild took a deep breath and calmly pushed open the door in front of her. Regulus, who was lying on a beautiful woman's lap, was stunned when he saw Reinhild walk in, and then his expression twisted.
"You better get a clue! We are not the same! Everyone's innate abilities are different! You are simply no match for me, a complete human being, and you can't reach my level!
Know your place, accept your shortcomings, and just give up honestly! Don't you feel you are overstepping? Before this, a whole bunch of people as complacent as you wanted to defeat me, but they all couldn't hurt me, just like you."
Regulus stood up and spoke excitedly.
Reinhild also stopped, not because she was moved by what Regulus said, but because the now-standing Regulus suddenly grabbed the neck of the woman who had just let him lie on her lap.
"Don't move! If you dare to make any suspicious move, she loses her life!"
Stopping in her tracks, Reinhild assessed the situation inside the Control Tower. Besides Regulus, there were a total of 51 top-tier beauties, slightly less stunning than Emilia, here.
—Lord Reinhild, my husband has a total of 291 wives, and 238 have already died. Only 53 remain in this city. Subtracting the two of us, there are 51 left.
Recalling the words of Shilphi (No. 148) in her mind, Reinhild reconfirmed their eyes. Reinhild, with her Divine Protection activated, was a top-tier actor, so she understood that the vacant eyes of the people before her were genuine.
—51 people, they are all here.
Reinhild felt a sigh of relief in her heart.
"Don't look at my precious wives with your filthy eyes. They are all beautiful maidens who can respond to my love."
"Precious wives? You didn't hesitate at all when you just went for the kill, did you?"
Reinhild looked back at the enraged Regulus. For the first time, she genuinely looked down on someone from the bottom of her heart.
—On one hand, he indulges in tyranny against his wives, while on the other, he hides his heart, which is his weakness, within them. Even now that he knows his weakness might have been discovered, he still chooses to recall all his wives and act like a coward.
—At the same time, after being found by me, he actually placed his hope on the kindness I demonstrated when I saved Shilphi and the others just now.
Although the man in front of him possessed world-class combat power, he was a genuine weakling. Reinhild finally understood why the Dragon Sword was unwilling to be drawn.
"Isn't that all your fault? You've already taken two wives from me. Do you still want to harm these innocent ones? Do you dare, you despicable coward!"
—A good person cannot strike his wives! And a villain wouldn't provoke a Great Sin Archbishop for no reason! What a malicious form of invincibility.
Reinhild looked at the 51 people who were like dolls, thinking about the plight of Shilphi, whom she had rescued, and listening to the heartbeats of 52 people coming from the 51 women.
"I don't want them to die. But if you resist, then I will have no choice but to kill. Starting from the one on the far side, I'll kill them one by one, in order... Forcing me to do such a cruel thing, you are practically a demon."
"I didn't threaten you that way."
Reinhild looked at Regulus, who sincerely believed his own logic, and then at his wife, who was being held hostage but showed no reaction. For the first time, Reinhild truly loathed a person from the bottom of her heart.
"Stop quibbling! Yes, the one who took action directly is me. But the one who made me do it is you. Your murderous intent is what killed them. You are essentially using me to murder. Don't try to escape the responsibility for killing them. You murderer...!"
Regulus gritted his teeth and glared at Reinhild with hatred, but in the next instant, his expression turned to horror.
"It seems you've misunderstood something. I put my all into protecting those two just now only because of the intelligence. You are right, I am a murderer. Although you may have forgotten, as the Sword Saint, I have indeed killed countless people to protect this country, but the harm they posed to the country is far less than yours. For the sake of the country, even if I have to bear the guilt, I must eliminate you here. That is the correct thing I should be doing the most."
Reinhild's eyes were icy as she raised the Dragon Sword Reid in her hand. The great amount of mana rapidly converged. Looking at the air around them starting to warp due to the immense mana fluctuations, everyone instantly understood that the power of this strike would destroy everything here.
"You damned monster!!!"
Regulus released his wife and charged fiercely at Reinhild. If not for his previous actions, his current display would almost resemble a good husband risking his life for his wife.
"Get out of here."
Regulus violently grabbed the Dragon Sword with both hands.
Reinhild felt an indescribable immense force coming from the Dragon Sword, and then her back violently smashed through the wall. The original sword strike also flew into the sky.
"Pulling stunts like this... if my wives get hurt because of this, how will you compensate me? You should know without being taught that girls must be treated gently, right? Can't you even manage that?"
"You have the nerve to say that, when you were just about to kill your own wife?"
Sensing danger, Reinhild instantly retreated dozens of meters. In the next instant, an invisible attack turned the entire street into ruins. Different from his previous combat style of showing off his power with absolute confidence, the life-threatened Regulus immediately used his full strength.
"Don't get the wrong idea. The reason I played along with you like this is because of my generous heart and composure. But even if I'm gentle, my patience has its limits. The so-called wasted effort is the tragedy caused by not knowing your own strength. There is no remedy left... just die quickly."
In that moment, Reinhild felt as if she was pitted against the entire world.
[Divine Protection of Reiteration]
However, this was the second time she was facing Regulus at full power, so the Divine Protection began to guide Reinhild: Do not step on this spot of ground, the dust in this area has been fixed; there is a line of air there; a brick in this wall has been fixed; there is a trap here...
"What kind of joke is this!"
"I apologize, but if it's a combat pattern you've used against me once, it's highly likely it won't work."
Reinhild tightened her grip on the Dragon Sword slightly, and then began to retreat while fighting.